Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Self-Publishing

After much thought, effort, and research, I have decided to self-publish my first novel.

I dedicated the past couple of years to attempting to publish the traditional route, and no one can say after my 100 + rejections, using all available contacts, and being willing to enact any useful suggestions, that I didn't try.  The time was not wasted in that I learned a lot, and I would have regretting not trying, but all of that work took the place of actual writing.  I miss writing.

So no more.

It's difficult for me to criticize traditional publishing and not have it look like sour grapes, I know, but my honest assessment is that that system is broken.  There is no excuse for the number of agencies that still expect writers to mail unwieldy packets of printed out manuscripts; the waste involved when there is a simple electronic option is ridiculous.  The number of agents who don't even respond is disheartening, and I understand the efficiency of a self-addressed stamped envelope, but after a while it's just adding insult to injury to receive a form letter rejection that's addressed to you in your own hand.  So much of it crawls at a snail's pace, and the kinds of things agents and publishers are looking for don't have enough to do with good writing it seems.

The major value I could see in landing an agent and having a publisher pick up your work was that sense of having been screened and deemed worthy.  But have you seen what kinds of awful things get published anymore?  And not that one shouldn't be wary of the enormous amount of dreck available in self-publishing, but the difference between the two worlds is getting smaller as the quality at one end diminishes and at the other is rapidly improving.

For regular authors not of blockbuster status, I'm not even sure what traditional publishing provides anymore.  I have friends who are wonderful writers who have agents and publish excellent writing, but they have to work just as hard at self-promotion within that system as people I know who self-publish.  I talked with one writer in particular who has an agent and has published using the traditional route, but when she couldn't find a buyer for her recent novel went ahead and just put it out there herself.  She told me it wasn't all that different in terms of the work involved, but she had more control and receives all the profits.

I do not for a moment expect my novel will sell to more than those dozen or so people I mentioned in my acknowledgements section.  But it doesn't need to.  I would love it if many people read my book and it moved them, but for me the real goal is for that piece of work to simply be done.  It's possible to pick at a piece of work forever.  And the final part of the process for any piece of writing is for it to be read, so I have to let it go and let it be what it will be out in the world in order for it to finally be finished.

So wish me luck on this strange new venture!  I await my proof in the mail from Amazon's CreateSpace so I can check for any last typos or formatting problems before offering my novel to the public, and the wheels are in motion for getting the ebook version underway through BookBaby.

In the meantime, check out the beautiful cover my mom drew for me, and that my brother formatted:















Already looking forward to working on the next book.

27 comments:

  1. I'll buy it even if it is dreck!

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    1. Well, there's a quote to put on the back of the book!

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  2. I can't wait to read it. The cover is gorgeous!

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    1. Isn't my mom good? Hope my writing is worthy of her art.

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  3. I rarely buy books anymore (love the library!), but I'll buy yours. It's your thoughtfulness I enjoy and I'm sure I'll get to experience some of that in your novel. And congratulations! I'm pleased for you, not only that your novel will be out there and be read, but that this means you can return to writing...or rather, return to writing books: a different kind of writing, to be sure, than blogging.

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    1. Thank you! I hope you like it. If you don't want to cry just stop after chapter 6.

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    2. I'm okay with crying :)

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  4. Consider it bought...I'm thinking my book club is still a good idea too!

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    1. And when we meet up for that walk around CW someday I will sign it! (Or wave at your Kindle version, or whatever you have.)

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    2. Oh and I love love the cover. Your mom is awesome.

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  5. Congratulations! I don't really buy books, ever, but I've had good luck getting the library to purchase things if I put in a request. Let me know when it's available and I'll put in a request at Bay View Library to buy this great new work from a local author for their collection. (Will that be tricky since it's self-published?)

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    1. I have no idea. "All the Lonely People" by Jess Riley from Oshkosh was available at the Library, and she self-published that through Amazon, too, so I would assume so. I was thinking about approaching Boswell's.

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  6. Your corners look great. I'll take one.
    M

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  7. Awesome Korinthia. Can't wait to read it!

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  8. Wow, this is awesome and inspiring and I want to hear more about the process. Also, count me on that buy list ... so that's 13 ;-)

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    1. Your bravery about posting your book online was part of what got me thinking outside of the box to begin with. Happy to answer any questions about how this goes anytime!

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  9. That is a STUNNING cover--it really grabs my attention and would have me reading the flyleaf to see what the book is about.

    Congratulations on taking this leap! I know my mom is looking at writing and trying to get published. I'll have to mention this to her.

    I can't wait to hear your book is published! :o)

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    1. Thanks Rach! I wasn't going to bother my mom about a cover because she's such a busy person, but at Christmas she asked if she could take a crack at it as my present last year, and I knew she'd come up with something beautiful. Click the link on her "name" to see more of her work! She's amazing.

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  10. Your cover is amazing and gorgeous, does your mom do this professionally? Best of luck with the publishing, and many congratulations.

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    1. She's a professional artist of the highest caliber, but she only does cover art for personal projects.

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    2. What a hoot! I have been a fan of your mother's work for a long time! I didn't make the Klein connection, but it all makes sense now.

      Do shop around carefully for all the physical components you need to make the book an object (remember that there are a lot of people eager to make money from you), and set aside a large amount of storage space for the printed books. This is the way to go, but going about in a smart way is very important.

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    3. Oh that is funny!

      Actually, the cool thing about CreateSpace on Amazon is that it costs almost nothing. I paid a little extra ($50) for them to distribute to libraries and bookstores, etc., but if I hadn't chosen that option the regular service was all free. And the proof I ordered only cost me $5.45 plus shipping. Don't need to find storage space when things are print on demand! (I'm still kind of stunned that within hours of ordering my proof it was in the mail. I think that is definitely a better way for most books to go in this day and age. Only print what you need.)

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  11. Great news! I'll be buying it as long as the ebook is available in the UK!

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    1. Once I approve the digital proof it should be available in every ebook form everywhere.

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    2. Brilliant! Can't wait!

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